COPY-EDITING  ELEMENTS AND  USAGE LEARNING   OBJECTIVE:   List   the   elements applicable  to  copy  editing  and  identify  their usage. As a  journalist  assigned  copy-editing  duties,  you should always strive for accuracy, rather than speed You might adopt the slogan, “All I miss, they will print.” Before you try filling the seat of copy editor, make sure you have a copy of the locally produced stylebook (see Chapter 7 of the JO 1 & C TRAMAN), as well as a copy of the latest version of  The   Associated   Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.  Both books are designed to  standardize  all  newswriting  and  word  usage  for internal publications and for news releases to civilian media. The copy-editing guidelines covered in this section are as follows: Style Editorializing Contradictions Incompleteness Names Numbers Spelling Punctuation Capitalization Abbreviations Military   terms Religious   terms STYLE Everyone in your office should be acquainted with the locally accepted stylebook, but it is up to the copy editor to catch any violations of good style. It is annoying for an editor to pick up a story and find, for example, the word “avenue” spelled out one time, abbreviated as “ave.” a second time and written as “av.”   a   third   time.   An   office   that   is   careless   or inconsistent about little things may eventually become careless or inconsistent about big things. Once a news medium loses respect for you, you might as well close shop. No newspaper will take the chance of publishing sloppy or carelessly prepared material. Spelling,  punctuation,  capitalization,  abbreviation and other mechanical aspects of grammar are details of writing that have a tremendously important impact on the clarity, readability and effectiveness of your copy. Once your office gets away from using a set stylebook, your news copy will slowly become a hodgepodge of inconsistencies. EDITORIALIZING Editorializing happens when a writer consciously or unconsciously expresses doubt, censure or praise in a news story. The only persons permitted to express an opinion in a straight news story are the persons in the story  itself.  Even  then,  the  opinion  quoted  must  be attributed to the person who gave it. News stories should be written in the third person. The writer’s personal opinions should  never  be injected into a news story. Facts should be reported as they are found, without personal pronouns referring to the writer. Editorials are articles in newspapers or magazines in which the views of their editors or those in control of the  periodicals  are  intentionally  presented.  However, such  articles  are  clearly  identified  and  purposely  set apart from the publications’ news and features. The electronic media also offer editorial opinions, but they, too, take care to keep them separate from their regular   newscasts. Editorials require a very specialized style of writing — the fundamentals of which will not be covered in this training  manual.  The  focus  of  this  section  is  the inclusion  of  personal  opinions  in  your  newswriting through carelessness or by design. Consider the following examples of editorializing in  straight  news  copy,  then  note  the  following suggestions offered to eliminate the implied opinions: Poor: Lt. Post is exceptionally well qualified for  the  position. Improved:  Lt. Post, with a degree in law, has eight   years   of   experience   as   a   Navy   legal officer. Poor:  An  interesting  program  is  planned  for tonight  at  the  Officers’  Club. Improved:   Here  is  tonight’s  program  at  the Officers’ Club. 6-6